1950s

1950:

-Korean War begins when North Korean Communist forces invade South Korea (June 25).

-First BBC programme for toddlers.

-Saturday morning children's programming begins.
-Phonevision, the first pay-per-view service, becomes available.

-First time television images are transmitted across the channel.

-BBCs first broadcast from the House of Commons.

-Assassination attempt on President Truman by Puerto Rican nationalists (Nov. 1).

1951:

-King Geogre opens the Festival of Britain, marking the anniversary of the Great Exhibition of 1851-capturing the post-war public's imagination.

-Julius and Ethel Rosenberg sentenced to death for passing atomic secrets to Russians (March).

- Libya gains independence (Dec. 24).

-Television cameras are allowed on 10 Downing Street for the first time.

-CBS in the US transmits the first colour programme.

-Hydrogen bomb developed.

1952:

-George VI dies, his funeral is broadcasted live on television, first time a monarch's funeral could be shared=establishing a tradition of Royal television events; his daughter becomes Elizabeth II (Feb. 6).

-Identity Cards are abolished.

-The first programme for deaf children (BBC)

-BBC's first major panel games, 'Animal, Vegetable, Mineral?'

-London smog kills 4,000 Londoners from respiratory diseases

1953:
-James Watson and Francis Crick discover the structure of the DNA, they announce that they have "found the secret of life", their work explains genetic inheritance.

-To counteract the threat of television, Hollywood thinks big and develops wide-screen processes.

-East Berliners rise against Communist rule.

-Egypt becomes republic ruled by military junta.

-Julius and Ethel Rosenberg executed in Sing Sing prison.

-Moscow announces explosion of hydrogen bomb.

-The Queen's coronation is the first time TV gets a bigger audience than radio! (BBC)

-First British science-fiction series (BBC).

-Panorama airs as a cultural review (BBC).

-Heart and lung machine first used in surgery.

1954:

-The revenue for television broadcasters finally surpasses that of radio broadcasters. Gross revenue for television is $593 million.

-Algerian War of Independence against France begins (Nov.); France struggles to maintain colonial rule until 1962 when it agrees to Algeria's independence.

-First in-vision weatherman-George Cowling (BBC).

-First transmission of newsreel (BBC).

-Television Act becomes law.

-'The Grove Family' is first soap for adults (BBC).

-David Attenboroug becomes a star!

1955:

-Rosa Parks, a black American, refuses to move from the white section of a bus in Alabama=boycott of local buses by blacks and helps set in motion of the US Civil Rights movement (Martin Luther King).
-James Dean dies in a car accident at age 26.
-BBC's monopoly of British TV is over as ITV begins broadcasting.

1956:

-First European Cup Final

1957:

-first Earth-orbiting satellite—the Space Age begins.

-Lewisham Train crash, 92 people die when 2 trains collide in the fog

1958:

-European Economic Community (Common Market) becomes effective

-The first CND protests.

-Blue Peter.

-Notting Hill riots.

1959:

-M1 motorway opens.

-First Sikh temple in Southall.

-Rumors of cheating on quiz shows erupt into a national scandal.

-Cuban President Batista resigns and flees—Castro takes over.

-Tibet's Dalai Lama escapes to India.

London's economy and jobs
Manufacturing firms flourished during the 1950s, particularly those making consumer goods such as televisions, washing machines and radios. 'White collar' jobs were on the increase as an office boom brought over 50,000 new jobs to London and service took a bigger share of London’s overall economy.
By the 1950s services accounted for 51% of London’s economy, manufacturing accounted for 42%. Women benefited most from the new office jobs. During the 1950s women came to outnumber men in London's offices, for the first time ever.